11/06/2017
PASSE ANTERIEUR
Like the 'passé simple', the passé antérieur is a literary tense.
They are often found together in the same text. The passé antérieur is used
in literature, in formal writing, and in very formal speeches, when speaking
of past events which are prior to other past actions; it is the literary equivalent
of the plus-que-parfait. In other words, it is used for a past action that was completed before another action in the past (usually expressed in the passé simple).
The passé antérieur is formed with the passé simple of the appropriate auxiliary (avoir or être) plus the past participle of the main verb.
Passé antérior = auxiliary in the literary past + past participle of main verb
PARLER - TO SPEAK
j'eus parlé - I had spoken
tu eus parlé - you had spoken
il / elle / on eut parlé - he / she / it had spoken
nous eûmes parlé - we had spoken
vous eûtes parlé - you had spoken
ils / elles eurent parlé - they had spoken
ALLER - TO GO
je fus allé(e) - I had gone
tu fus allé(e) - you had gone
il / elle / on fut allé(e) - he / she / it had gone
nous fûmes allé(e)s - we had gone
vous fûtes allé(e)(s) - you had gone
ils / elles furent allé(e)s - they had gone